Sarton, George Alfred Leon (1884-1956)

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Source:Geert Vanpaemel, "Bijlage Wetenschapsgeschiedenis in België", in: Robert Halleux, Carmélia Opsomer en Jan Vandersmissen (red.), Geschiedenis van de wetenschappen in België van de Oudheid tot 1815, Brussel 1998, 429

Historian of science born on 31 August 1884 in Ghent and died on 22 March 1956 in Boston, Massachuchetts.
Alias: Dominique de Bray


Biography

Sarton attended secondary school in Ghent. After having studied philosophy at Ghent University for two years, he changed course in 1904 and chose to start afresh at the science faculty. Here, under the influence of Paul Mansion, professor of mathematics, and perhaps supported by his philosophical baggage, he took an interest in the history of the sciences from a very broad philosophical and cultural point of view. It is likely that Sarton was also inspired by the historical analyses of science by Adolphe Quetelet. In 1906, Sarton received the degree of doctor of science, physics and mathematics, with a thesis on Newton (Les principes de la mécanique de Newton). He then settled with his wife Mabel Eleanor Elwes in Wondelgem, near Ghent. Between 1906 and 1912, he worked at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, where he carried out observations. In 1912, however, he had no professional position. Aided by a generous inheritance from his father, - he was an only child - Sarton therefore decided to devote himself full-time and under his own steam to the study of mathematical methodology and the history of science, thus giving the history of science a basis for an independent discipline. According to Sarton, the development of the natural sciences had profoundly divided modern society. Humanists and scientists seemed to have little understanding for each other. For the humanist, science was a purely technical matter; the scientist, on the other hand, had little understanding of the ideological content of humanist ideas. Sarton considered the history of science as the binding agent between these two aspects of modern civilisation. He always referred to it as 'histoire de la science' rather than 'histoire des sciences', based on the idea that historical thinking about science had to be raised to a higher level and brought together. A year later, he founded the historical journal Isis with his own funds.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Sarton left for the United States. He offered to teach a course in the history of science for free at Harvard University, in exchange for the use of a classroom (the Widener Library, which later became famous). After the war, American academia saw an increased use for the internationalist spirit that the science-history project brought. Sarton's background as a refugee from Poor little Belgium may also have played a part in the benevolence with which he was treated. In any case, in 1920, at a time when the history of science at Belgian universities had all but disappeared, Sarton's course was officially made part of the curriculum. He was finally appointed Professor of History of Science in 1940. In 1919, he was permanently appointed as a researcher at the Carnegie Institute in Washington (until 1948). It was mainly this position that provided him with the financial means to fulfil his projects. In 1936, Sarton founded the science journal Osiris. A few years later he founded the History of Science Society.
In 1951, he was admitted to emeritus status by Harvard University.

Sarton was a founding member of the Académie Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences in 1928.[1] In 1951 he became foreign correspondent of the Royal Flemish Academy (KVAB) and of the Comité belge d'histoire des sciences.

In memory of Sarton, the History of Science Society has awarded a Sarton Medal every year since 1955 to an outstanding historian of science, regardless of nationality. Also the Sarton Committee of Ghent University, consisting of representatives of all faculties of Ghent University, has since 1986 annually awarded a Sarton Chair and several Sarton Medallists (one per faculty). These are invited to give lectures in the field of the history of sciences. The lectures are published in the journal Sartoniana, which appears anually.


Publications

Among Sarton's most important publications is the five-volume Introduction to the history of science (1927-1947). In it, he dealt with the history of science from antiquity to the fifteenth century, based on a study of original texts, including Arabic writings. Of great influence was also The history of science and the new humanism (1931), in which he set out his vision of the role and usefulness of the history of science.

A complete overview of Sarton's publications can be found in: Strelsky, Katharine, "Bibliography of the publications of George Sarton", in: Isis, 48(1957), 336-46. (341 titels)

On The internet archive scans of Sarton's books can be found.

Bibliography

COHEN, I.B., "George Sarton", 286-300.
CONANT, James B., "George Sarton and Harvard University", 301-305.


Notes

  1. ↑ Sarton was a member of over forty associations and societies within and outside of the United States. An enumeration can be found in: Cohen, I.B., "George Sarton", in: Isis, 48 (1957), 299.
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